SHIP grant program will help veteran homeowners in city

Mayor William Peduto has announced The Home Depot Foundation will provide $200,000 to Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, a partner with the city’s Sustainable Home Improvement Partnership (SHIP), to expand services to support 28 veterans’ home repairs in the Pittsburgh region.

“The Home Depot Foundation has been a key partner of this program, and I’m excited to continue this collaborative home repair work to support our residents,” Mayor Peduto said. “We place a high value on serving our city’s veterans, and we’re ready work hand-in-hand with our partners to ensure we’re meeting their most critical needs.”

As part of the city’s servePGH initiative, SHIP began serving City of Pittsburgh residents in January 2012, after receiving a $500,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation. SHIP has also been funded by the RK Mellon Foundation and the Pittsburgh Foundation. To date, SHIP has engaged more than 2,000 volunteers, leveraged more than $1M of monetary and in-kind donations, and repaired and weatherized nearly 150 homes.

“We’re putting our funds and the time and talents of our Team Depot volunteers to work across the country to help address the housing needs of our veterans – from providing safe housing for homeless veterans to ensuring disabled veterans can maneuver throughout their homes,” said Fred Wacker, director and COO of The Home Depot Foundation.

“Through our efforts, we’ve seen that the greatest impact is made when public and private partners work together to make a difference, and we’re glad to be a part of that here with Rebuilding Together and the City of Pittsburgh.”

SHIP repairs and weatherizes the homes of veterans, seniors and disabled residents in collaboration with local nonprofits and citizen volunteers and is built on the Cities of Service Sustainable Home Makeover Blueprint. The first-ever collaboration of its kind, SHIP allows low-income homeowners access to a variety of services at once. SHIP is a joint effort of the City’s servePGH initiative, the City’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, and the following organizations: Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, Neighborhood Allies, ACTION-Housing Inc ., Nazareth Housing Services, and The Pittsburgh Project.

Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh is the fiscal agent for this Home Depot Foundation grant. SHIP’s supporting agencies are Neighborworks of Southwestern PA and Pittsburgh Community Services. Community partners are Operation Better Block and The Birmingham Foundation.